A
wiki is a type of website that can be edited by visitors using
only their web browser. The name comes from the word wiki-wiki
that means quick in the Hawaiian language and is an apt name
for these sites that can be quickly and easily modified. Wikis
are useful for collaborative document creation because the
document viewing and editing are integrated on-line. In a
typical wiki, a visitor to the website can edit a page by
clicking on the appropriate link. The page content is edited
in simple markup language and saved. The changes to the wiki
are stored in a database on a webserver and are immediately
visible to visitors; all of the pages on the wiki website
are generated by the server using the information stored in
the database. Because it is so easy to change a wiki website,
a record of all changes is also stored in the database so
that older versions of the site s pages can be restored.